Virgin Galactic space chat at Churcher's College

The past decade has seen a huge resurgence in interest in space travel, including the development for the first time of programmes to put paying customers into space, and Churcher’s students (from the fourth year to upper Sixth) recently seized the opportunity to quiz staff of Virgin Galactic about the challenges involved in human space flight in an hour-long video conference.

Our students asked future astronaut Ron Rosano and spacecraft engineers Chris Huie-Spence, Daniel Miller and Steve Slaughter questions on topics ranging from the g-forces experienced by the crew to the cost of building the space craft.

We were intrigued by the prospect of developing Virgin Galactic’s technology further, to dramatically reduce journey times between continents, if concerned about the possible environmental impact. It was clear from the questions that many of our students would be keen to solve these problems and they certainly have the potential to do so!

We extend our thanks to those from Virgin Galactic who gave their time for this excellent session.